U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Pennsylvania Collects a Record $145 Million in Civil and Criminal Actions for U.S. Taxpayers in 2018

(PITTSBURGH) - U.S. Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today that the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania collected a record $145M in civil and criminal actions in FY 2018.

Of the total amount collected, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, working with partner agencies, collected $10,604,018 in FY 2018 by forfeiting criminal assets, which was one of the largest amounts for similarly-sized U.S. Attorney’s Offices throughout the country. This $10.6M went to victims of crime and to 29 state and local police departments throughout western Pennsylvania.

The forfeiture of criminal proceeds is a critical part of DOJ’s mission. In addition to restoring money to crime victims, forfeited assets help fund victims’ programs that provide critical services to victims. Forfeited criminal assets are also used to further the mission and effectiveness of our state and local law enforcement partners through police training and the purchase of new equipment including body cameras, canines and bulletproof vests.

"When criminals steal, defraud, and harm members of the community, we will prosecute them, forfeit the proceeds of their crimes, and return the money to the victims," said U.S. Attorney Brady. "By returning money to victims, and by helping our law enforcement partners purchase much needed equipment, we are enhancing our mission to keep the citizens of western Pennsylvania safe."

U.S. Attorneys’ Offices are also responsible for enforcing and collecting civil and criminal debts owed to the U.S. and criminal debts owed to federal crime victims. The law requires defendants to pay restitution to victims of certain federal crimes who have suffered a physical injury or financial loss. While restitution is paid to the victim, criminal fines are paid to the department’s Crime Victims’ Fund, which distributes the funds to state victim compensation and victim assistance programs. These programs provide important funding for crime victims who might otherwise receive no compensation for their injuries. In addition, civil debts were collected on behalf of several federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Education, the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The largest civil collections were from affirmative civil enforcement cases, in which the United States recovered government money lost to fraud or other misconduct or collected fines imposed on individuals and/or corporations for violations of federal health, safety, civil rights or environmental laws.